Process of decorating articles



Oct. 1, 1935. J; BIRNHOLZ PROCESS OF DECORATING ARTICLES Filed Aug/24, 195s .722 can for Patented Oct. 1, 1935 PATENT OFFICE 2,015,659 PROCESS OF DECORATING ARTICLES James Birnholz, Berlin, Germany, assignor to Oxford Varnish Corporation, Detroit, Mich.

Application August 24, 1933, Serial No. 686,537 In Germany August 26, 1932 2 Claims.

14y invention relates to a decorated article and to a process of decorating articles and, more particularly, to a process of applying a decorative finish to the surface of metallic articles, such as g sheet metal, steel plates or the like.

It is well known that beautiful patterns appear on the surface produced by cutting, grinding and polishing a piece of metal, particularly, if the piece of metal has been subjected to a preparatory 1o deformation by torsion, crushing, twisting or other mechanical treatment, or if the surface is treated by suitable chemicals, such as acids or the like. The pattern is due to the crystalline structure of metal and is enhanced by the transposil5 tion of crystals caused by the preparatory mechanical treatment of the metal or caused by similar changes taking place within the interior or on the surface of the metal. While these patterns are sometimes Just discernible with the naked eye 20 and may be of impressive beauty, it will be necessary, as a rule, to magnify the pattern, for instance by means of a microscope, in order to obtain a decorative effect. The production of a surface finish on metallic articles by a mechanical 25 and chemical treatment of the material of. the article itself, for instance by twisting or etching the article, would require a complicated and expensive process.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive process of applying a surface finish 01' a beautiful design to metallic articles, and I attain this object by printing a photomechanically produced pattern of the above kind on the metal to be decorated. The printing 35 operation may be accomplished by anyone of the known printing processes, such as intaglio printing, typography, ofi-set printing 'or the like. I prefer to employ the photomechanical process of intaglio printing which permits to transfer the 40 pattern from the printing form to the surface to be finished in a single operation. Moreover, this process ofiers the possibility of using metallic colors, especially metals suspended in esters of cellulose or ether. I may print the pattern either 45 directly on the metallic surface to be decorated or on a suitable coat of paint, priming or the like applied to the surface by a preparatory operation.

My invention is not limited to the decoration of so metallic articles, but may also be used for decorating objects or articles of any other material. I have found, however, that my invention is particularly useful in its application to metallic articles. as the appearance of articles so decorated 55 is in conformity with the composition of its material. My printing process is equally applicable to sheet metal or rolled metal plates as to castmgs.

As the photomechanical production of a suitable printing form is known per se, a detailed 5 description thereof may be dispensed with. A photomechanical intaglio printing form is produced from a photograph representing the original pattern of a polished metal surface either in natural size or on an enlarged scale. The photograph may be taken by means of a microphotographic apparatus. After the printing form has been made and inked in a known manner, the pattern is transferred from the printing form to the article to be decorated by means of a rubber l5 roller. If desired, the surface to be decorated may be provided with a coat of priming in a preparatory treatment.

Sometimes, I prefer to use a multi-color printing process. In this event, I may suitably print transfer pictures first and apply the pattern to the article by decalcomania, heat and pressure being used in a known manner in this process. In this manner, metal surfaces of any desired shape may be finished. If it is desired, to give the article to be decorated a finish imitating the structure and composition of steel, it is not necessary to make the article of steel, but any desired cheaper or more suitable metal may be used and may be provided with the desired finish. I

The pattern printedon the article may be provided with a protective coating of lacquer or varnish or the like, for instance with a coating of nitrocellulose varnish which, if desired, may be tinted. The protective coating may be ground, polished or treated in any other suitable manner.

The accompanying drawing depicts different patterns of structures or compositions which are well adapted for photomechanical reproduction.

Fig. 1 represents the ground, polished and etched surface of a piece of damask steel composed of alternate layers of soft white iron and hard gray steel, the piece being subjected to a welding, hammering and repeated twisting treatment.

Fig. 2 represents a pattern produced by cutting, polishing and etching a piece of ordinary steel, on an enlarged scale.

What I claim is:-

1. The method of simulating a design bearin article, comprising the steps of treating the article to accentuate the design, photomechanically preparing an image bearing printing member from the accentuated design, adding to a printing ink a material including the same material as composed the article being simulated thereby forming a printing medium, applying such printing medium to the image of the printing member, transierring such medium to the surface to be decorated 2. The method 01' simulating a metallic surface, comprising etching said surface to accentuate the granular structure thereof, photomechanically preparing an image bearing printing member from such accentuated surface, suspending in a printing ink a metal having the same general characteristics as the surface being simulated, applying said printing ink to the image of the printing member, and transferring the inked image to a surface to be decorated.

JAMES BIRNHOLZ. 

